IUCN status: Extinct
Last seen: Caloprymnus campestris were last seen in 1935 in Ooroowilanie, east of Lake Eyre (IUCN 2023)
IUCN claim: “Extinction is considered to have been due to predation by red foxes and feral cats.”
Desert rat kangaroos were last confirmed 24-28 years after foxes arrived (Current submission).
No studies
There are no studies evidencing a link between foxes and the
extinction of desert rat kangaroos.
Evidence linking Caloprymnus campestris to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.
Current submission (2023) Scant evidence that introduced predators cause extinctions.
Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).
IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023